Socio‐Spatial Vulnerabilities, Peripheralization and Post‐Crises Resilience: Lessons From the Portuguese Case

Existing socio‐spatial vulnerabilities in the pre‐pandemic moment led to different impacts of COVID‐19 on territories, reinforcing ongoing processes of peripheralization. This article develops a new approach to understand the linkages between socio‐spatial vulnerabilities and the socio‐economic impacts of this crisis. Using data from Portuguese municipalities, a typology of vulnerable territories is defined based on the degree of potential exposure and susceptibility to external shocks. The different groups of municipalities are then related to the impact of the pandemic crisis on unemployment dynamics in 2020 and 2021. The results confirm the existence of increased socio‐spatial vulnerability in areas highly dependent on tourism as well as in fragile socio‐economic intra‐metropolitan areas. The article has implications for thinking forward about socio‐spatial vulnerability, peripheralization and the emergence of left‐behind places, stressing the need to foster resilience in order to transform regional economies in post‐crises recovering periods.